Work-gage.



No. 656,725. Patented Aug. 2a, |900.

E. F. MowER.

wom( GAGE.

(Applicaeign med nine 15, 1899,) (N o Nl o d e I Warm" i Il l 4o formed.

wirr-2 TATES PATENT Orrin,

EDWIN F. MOWER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COM- PANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

WORK-GAG E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,725, dated August 28, 1900.

Application filed June 15, 1899. Serial No. 720,675. (No model.)

.To4 @ZZ whom it may concern: p

Be it known that I, EDWIN F. MOWER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suolk and State of Mas- 5 sachnsetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Work-Gages; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to io whichit appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to an improvement in work guiding or gaging devices for shoe machinery, and more particularly to a work guiding or gaging device for ma- I 5 chines operating upon the soles of boots and shoes, such as outsole-stitching machines, pegging-machines, and machines of like character.

Shoes are now commonly made with soles 2o the edges of which project varying distances beyond the upper, such as the well-known Baltimore edge shoe, wherein the sole along the outer ball portion extends out a greater distance beyond the upper than it 2 5 does around the toe and along the inner ball and shank portions. In stitching the soles of such shoes the line of stitches as they appear on the upper surface of the sole must be so positioned with reference to the upper 3o that after the sole has been trimmed to follow the line of the stitches the desired variation in the projection of the edge of the sole beyond the upper will be secured.

The object of the present invention is to 3 5 provide an auxiliary work-gage for machines of the type mentioned of simple construction and preferably so formed and arranged as to be operated by the-feeding of the Work as the operation upon the shoe-sole is being per- To the above end the present invention consists of the devices and combinations ot devices which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the invention is shown as being embodied in a stitchforming machinestichter example, as the machine disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 563,871, dated the 14th day of July, 1896.

Figure 1 shows in side elevation portions of such machine embodying my improved work-gage. Fig.2 shows a top plan View of the work-support with my improved gage thereon, and Fig. 3 represents a modified form of the invention which Will be hereinafter referred to.

Similar reference characters will be einployed to designate vcorresponding parts throughout the specification and drawings.

In the drawings, 1 represents a post, which in the machine of the patent hereinbefore referred to is mounted to have vertical reciprocations in a suitable bearing in the base of the machine (not herein shown) and is moved vertically preferably by the spring-actuated mechanism of the patent, whereby the work is clamped between the work-support and the presser-foot 2. Upon the upper end of the post 1 is mounted a bed or table 3, the forward end of which is provided with a worksupport 4C, having a throat 5, through which the needle or other instrumentality operating on the sole of the boot or shoeis arranged to work. The shoe being operated upon rests upon the work-support 4, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and it will be clearly understood that the extent of projection of the shoe-sole beyond the throat 5 will determine the location of the path of operation of the tool of the machine relatively to the upper of the shoe or the edge of the sole. In stitching a shoe of the type hereinbefore mentioned, wherein the sole projects varying distances from the upper, it is usual in these machines to guide the shoe by the presserfoot while stitching along the shank portions and along the inner ball portions and around the toe. Said presser-foot, as shown in. Fig. 1 of the drawings, is usually positioned to engage the crease between the upper and sole and bearing against the upper, and inasmuch as the edge of the sole when the shoe is guided by the presser-foot extends somedistance inward or to the right, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, beyond the throat 5 the stitches along those portions of the shoe-sole will be placed relatively close to the upper.

As the stitching progresses from the shank to the toe on the outer side of the shoe-sole it becomes necessary that the shoe be grad ually moved outward or toward the left, as the machine is shown in Fig. 1, in order that the edge of the sole will project less and less to the right of the throat 5, thus placing the stitches nearer the edge of the sole and farther from the upper, to secure which result the auxiliary gage, which will be described, has been produced. The auxiliary gage 6 is in the present machine preferably formed of an eccentric disk or wheel mounted on a studV 7, carried by the bed or table 3 and about which the gage is free to turn. The eccentricity of the gage is such that as it is turned in the direction of the arrowT shown in Fig. 2, which represents substantially its normal position and the position which it occupies while the work is being guided by the presser-foot 2, its periphery willfgrad ually approach nearer to the throat 5 and will thereafter gradually recede from the throat 5, moving the edge of the shoe-sole gradually outward and permittingit to be moved gradually inward as the stitching proceeds along the outer ball portion. The gage 6 is provided with a milled or roughened edge 8 along a portion of its periphery, whereby the contact of the vshoe therewith as the shoe is moved "along as the sewing progresses gradually turns the gage 6 about the stud 7, varying the position of the shoe-sole with reference to the throat 5, as hereinbefore explained. Any suitable means may be provided to return the gage 6 to its normal position after it has been actuated, such as the spring 9, one end of which is secured to the stud 7 and the other end to the upper surface of the gage 6 by means of a screw 10, the arrangement being such that as the gage 6 is turned in the direction of the arrow, as shown in Fig. 2, it will gradually wind up the spring 9, and as the shoe is removed from contact with the gage 6 the spring 9 will return the gage to its normal position. The periphery of the gage along one portion is preferably made smooth, so that when such portion has been brought opposite the throat 5 by the turning of the gage the gage ceases to turn and there will be no restraint to the free movement of the `edge of the shoesole past the gage.

` In order to maintain the gage in its normal position during the sewing of the sole along the shank and around the toe and inner ball portions, I have provided a suitable locking device, which in the illustrated embodiment of the present invention consists of a-lever 11, Vfulcrumed at 12 to the under surface of the bed or table 3 and carrying at its forward end a locking-bolt 13, which passes up through an aperture 14 in the bed or table 3 and engages an aperture 15, formed in the undery dered adjustable by forming the bed-plate 3 as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, wherein the bed-plat-e is cut out, forming a suitable guideway 18, in which is arranged to slide a plate 19, which at. its forward end supports the stud 7 and the gage and also the lockinglever, all as clearly shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3. By sliding the plate 19 along the guideway 18 the gage 6 may be adj ustably positioned with reference to the throat 5. Any suitable means may be provided for securing the plate 19 in its adj usted positionsuch as the set-screw 20, tappedinto athreaded bearing 21 of the bed or table and arranged to engage with the edge of the plate 19.

In' the operation of the present invention while the sewing progresses along the shank, the inner ball portions, and around the top of the shoe the shoe will be guided by the presser-foot 2, and as the sole is sewed along the outer ball portions the operator by lifting the lever 11 and removing the lockingbolt 13 permits the gage 6 to be turned by contact of the shoe with the milled surface as the shoe is fed along, and this turning of the gage 6 gradually moves the edge of the shoesole outward and inward with reference to the throat 5, whereby the stitches will be properly positioned relatively to the desired variation in the projection of the shoe-sole.

I desire to state in this connection that in so far as I am advised of the state of the art it has never been proposed to produce a variable work-gage actuated by contact therewith of the moving work and that therefore I do not consider the present invention as limited to the details` of mechanism which have been illustrated and described.

Having thus described the construction and mode of operation of the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, Iclaiin as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United StatesM 1. The combination with a tool or tools for operating upon a shoe-sole, of a gage actuated by contact of the moving shoe therewith to vary the path of operation of said tool o n the sole, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a work bed or table provided with a throat through which a tool or tools operate, of a gage actuated by contact of the moving shoe therewith to vary the position of the work relatively to the throat of the work-plate, substantially as described.

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3. The combination with a tool or tools op-v erating upon a shoe-sole, of a gage comprising an eccentric disk actuated by contact of the moving shoe therewith to vary the path of operation of said tool on the sole, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a tool or tools operating upon a shoe-sole, of a gage compris ing an eccentric disk having a milled or roughened periphery whereby the contact of the moving shoe therewith serves to turn said gage, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a tool or tools for operating upon a shoe-sole, of a gage comprising an eccentric disk, actuated by contact of the moving shoe therewith, a spring to return said disk to its normal positionv when released by the shoe and a suitable locking device to maintain said disk in its normal position, substantially as described.

6. A gage for shoe-machines, comprising an cccentrically-pivoted disk having a portion of its periphery milled or roughened to afford a frictional engagement therewith of the shoesole, whereby said disk will be turned as the sole is moved along in contact therewith, and having a portion of its periphery smooth, whereby the turning of the gage will cease when the smooth portion thereof is brought in position to engage the sole, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a work bed or plate having a throat or passage, of a gage comprising an eccentric disk, a slide carrying the gage and being adjustable toward and from the throat or passage and means to maintain the slide in its adjusted position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature 

